


Rebuilding

by sanscomment



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Abuse, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Torture, Walburga Black's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:48:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28685886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanscomment/pseuds/sanscomment
Summary: “Remember what I told you, Sirius?”The seven-year-old nodded.  “Yes, Father.  Take Reggie.  Run to the fire and floo to Uncle Alphard.  Have him seal the floo.”--Sirius was seven when his world shattered.  Regulus was barely six.  Their parents ripped away.They moved in with their Uncle Alphard and he did his best to give them the life that his nephews deserved.  Every day was a struggle, but it would get better.  It had to.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Rebuilding

“Remember what I told you, Sirius?”

The seven-year-old nodded. “Yes, Father. Take Reggie. Run to the fire and floo to Uncle Alphard. Have him seal the floo.” 

Regulus stared up at his father. “What about you, Papa?” His voice was meek and scared.

Orion pushed some of the boy’s hair out of his eyes. “I’ll come and get you when it’s safe.”

“Promise?”

Orion hesitated before nodding. “Promise.” He placed a gentle kiss on his youngest son’s head before turning to Sirius. He placed a gentle hand on the boy’s still healing shoulder. “Watch out for your brother and don’t bother your Uncle.”

All three heard the screeching of Walburga Black and Regulus hid his face in his brother’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Reggie,” his father whispered. “She won’t hurt you anymore. Either of you.”

The door opened to reveal a furious Walburga. She looked almost possessed. “That little shit,” she snapped, pointing at Sirius. “Broke my mother’s vase.” It wasn’t the first time that Walburga raised her wand at them. 

“I’m sure it was an accident, Wal—” A hex knocked the wind out of Orion. 

Sirius took the chance and bolted, stumbling to the floo with Regulus. He could hear his mother fuming. He could hear things falling, breaking, smashing. “SIRIUS!”

A hex very nearly missed his head as he ran. Regulus screamed. “Keep running, Reggie.”

Another hex swirled through the air as they made it to the fireplace. This one hit Regulus instead of Sirius. “No… no Reggie…” His brother, his kid brother, lay on the ground struggling to breathe. 

Their mother appeared in the doorway and Sirius held the floo powder in his hand. “You don’t want to do that, Sirius.” Her words were laced with venom. “All you have to do is behave. Just listen to me and we’ll all be happy again. Don’t you want that?”

Sirius glanced at his little brother next to him then back up at the psychopath that gave birth to him. “There is no happy with you,” he whispered as he threw the floo powder into the fire.

“You little…. Crucio!” Sirius could see the spell coming towards him but his body refused to move. He squeezed his eyes shut. The spell never hit. He heard the screams of agony. When he opened his eyes, he saw his father taking the brunt of the curse. 

“Go…” he croaked out. 

“Dad!”

“Go!”

“We’ll get help…” he whispered as he grabbed his brother and hopped into the floo.

\-----

“Boys! Breakfast!”

Sirius groaned as he attempted to turn away from the light pouring in through his window. He’s stopped by a smaller body curled up next to him. Reg. He must have had a nightmare the previous evening. Things had been going so well too, nearly two full weeks of sleeping through the night in his own room.

“Reg. Come on, time to wake up.” 

His brother muttered something and curled into Sirius. Merlin, he hated disturbing what little peace Regulus got. When Reg didn’t wake up, he gently shook him. “Come one, Reggie.”

“Papa?”

Sirius’ heart broke as he shook his head. “No, Reg. Wake up, we have to go for breakfast.”

Regulus opened his eyes and stared at his brother for a few moments before getting up and silently walking out of his older brother’s room.

“Boys!?”

“Coming!” Sirius shouted as he rolled out of bed and walked down the hallway towards the kitchen. He never thought that he would adjust to the light walls and large windows. 

“Where’s your brother?” 

Sirius looked up at the older man. “He had another nightmare, Sir.”

“Don’t call me that, Sirius.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to call you.”

“Liam is fine.”

Sirius wasn’t comfortable with that. He knew that this man was a muggleborn (he was slowly learning to not use the other word) and that his Uncle loved him very much. 

“Alphard,” he called out. 

Sirius had grown to love his Uncle more than he ever thought possible. His mother kept them away from Alphard because he was odd, different, crazy, disgusting… there was a large list of words that Walburga reserved for her older brother. None of them were true. Alphard was one of the kindest people Sirius ever encountered. He was brave and selfless and loving. He relaxed immediately when Alphard entered the room. He walked over to Liam and squeezed his hand before turning to Sirius. He got down on the child’s level.

“Is it alright if I go talk to Regulus?” he asked slowly. “You can stay here with Liam and he’ll tell you all sorts of exciting stories from work.”

Sirius glanced from Alphard to Liam before nodding slowly. “I made chocolate chip pancakes,” Liam smiled, ushering Sirius off into the kitchen. 

\---

“Reg?”

He didn’t verbalize a response. Whatever the nightmare was, it must have been awful to send the boy back to this state. “I’m going to come in, is that okay?” The lamp on his nightstand flickered. Oh boy. After taking a deep breath, Alphard walked into the room and sat down on the small bed, keeping a bit of distance between him and his nephew.

“Heard you had a nightmare. They’re scary, right?”

When Alphard didn’t get a response, he ran a hand through his hair. He was never meant to be a father.

“I have them too,” Alphard admitted quietly. He felt like he had this conversation with Regulus two or three times a month. “But you woke up. You’re safe here, remember? Nothing is going to hurt you here. Okay?”

Regulus nodded, but remained curled up. “Now, I know that you love pancakes, and we got some chocolate milk. Why don’t you come downstairs and eat a little something?” 

It took Regulus a moment before he managed a nod.

\---

The sound of Liam’s laugh echoed down the hall, followed by Sirius’ low chuckle. At least Liam and Sirius seemed to get along well enough. Regulus was extremely apprehensive of Liam and often wouldn’t stay alone in the same room as him. 

The past eight months had been an exhausting rollercoaster for all of them. Alphard knew it was bad at 12 Grimmauld Place, but he never could have imagined how bad it truly was. He should have realized and done something sooner. Maybe then Sirius wouldn’t have the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders. Perhaps Regulus would interact with more than two people. And Orion…

He shook it off and sat down at the table. Regulus sat on his chair directly next to Sirius. The older smiled at the younger and ruffled his hair playfully. The smallest of smiles played on Regulus’ lips and if that was all they got out of him, it would be a good day.

“I was thinking,” Alphard started as he watched Sirius cutting up his brother’s pancakes. “Why don’t we go out for a bit today? Just into town for some fresh air.”

Sirius looked at his brother, then back to his Uncle. “I don’t know if we’re ready.”

Sirius would never admit that he was using ‘we’ to refer to only Regulus. He never wanted his little brother to realize that he was sacrificing things for him. Sirius would love to go into town and explore an area outside of his Uncle’s home. But he wouldn’t go without Regulus. And Regulus was not ready.

“There’s an adoption event going on at the animal shelter,” Liam explained, hopping into the conversation. “We’ve been discussing getting a pet for quite some time.”

“Yes,” Alphard continued. “But that’s a family decision. Everyone gets a say.”

“What kind of pet?” Sirius asked slowly.

“A dog,” Alphard said at the same time that Liam said “A cat.”

They both laughed. Even Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“What do you think, Reggie? Wanna go see the animals?”

Regulus looked at his brother as the table fell into silence. “Safe?” he whispered.

Sirius nodded. “Very safe.” He hoped that his brother would agree. He wanted a dog so terribly, and a pet could possibly help bring Regulus out of his shell.

“Okay.” 

\---

Too many people. There were far too many people. Regulus held his brother’s hand tight as they walked. Alphard remained on the other side of Reg, keeping a close watch on him to make sure that he wasn’t overwhelmed.

They stopped at different cages throughout the morning. At one point, Sirius and Liam even took one of the dogs on a walk. 

Regulus and Alphard sat down on the ground of the large outdoor area. “Do you want to go play with a puppy?” Alphard was trying. He was probably trying a little too hard with Regulus, but the boy worried him sick.

“Please?” 

“Of course!” Alphard smiled as he stood up. “Let’s go to the puppy room.” Regulus took his uncle’s hand and they began walking. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Regulus stopped dead in his tracks. He peered into one of the kennels for a few moments before sitting down on the floor in front of it.

“Reg…”

He wasn’t sure what kind of dog was in the kennel. Most of the adoptable dogs were outside. Maybe this one was sick or too volatile. His heart sank when Regulus stuck his hand through the bars. “Reg… don’t…”

Then a sound escaped his nephew that nearly knocked the wind out of him. As the dog licked at Regulus’ hand, he laughed. Alphard very nearly broke down in tears right there. He called over one of the volunteers to ask about the dog. 

“That’s Cassie. She’s skittish,” the volunteer explained. “We don’t usually take her out when there’s too many people or too many other dogs around. It scares her.” When she watched the young boy interact with the dog, it warmed her heart. “There’s a quiet pen on the other side of the building. We can take her out there for a bit. If you’d like that.”

Alphard nodded mutely. He almost didn’t want to pull Reg away from the dog. Regulus was smiling as he ran his hand over the dog’s head, playing with her ears. At that point, it didn’t matter what Sirius or Liam wanted. This dog was coming home with them.

\---

Sirius came bounding towards his uncle, talking rather quickly about the amazing dog they just walked and how he couldn’t wait to take him home. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Regulus on the other side of the pen with a different dog. 

He sat there with the large dog resting her head on his leg as Regulus pet her. It was the most relaxed Sirius had ever seen his brother. “Uncle Al?”

Alphard turned to look at Sirius. “Yes?” Alphard had tears in his eyes as he watched the exchange.

Sirius hugged Alphard tight. “I think… things are going to get better.”

“Me too, Sirius. Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> More gaps will fill in as the story continues.


End file.
